Despite all the hoopla about the reviving U.S. economy, a new report shows there are more American children who live in poverty than there were at the height of the Great Recession in 2008.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation, which aims to provide a better future for economically disadvantaged children, has released its annual 2016 Kids Count Data Book. The report shows that while American children see a slight improvement, the percentage of children in poverty has risen to 22 percent in 2013, the latest year for which data was available, as opposed to the 18 percent of children living in poverty five years ago.
Worse, children of colored descent, specifically African-Americans, American Indians and Hispanic children, are worse off than their Caucasian counterparts, with 39 percent of African-American children, 37 percent of American Indians and 33 percent of Latino children living in poverty in 2013. African-American children are also two times as likely to live in single-parent households, while Latino children have the highest likelihood of living in a house whose head of household does not have a high school diploma, says (pdf) the report.
"In particular, African-American children have been left out of the recovery, and any efforts to reduce poverty and improve well-being for our children really have to take that into account," Dawn Wallace-Pascoe, project manager of Kids Count at Children's Defense-Ohio, said.
Also troubling is the fact that one out of seven children live in neighborhoods where at least 30 percent of the population live in poverty, which can negatively impact children even if their families are economically doing well, as these areas typically do not have adequate schools and playgrounds where children can play safely. Patrick McCarthy, president of the foundation, says children in these communities are far more likely to fall down the economic ladder, remain unemployed and get in trouble.
The effects of poverty felt by children also differ across states, with the South and Southwestern states ranking at the bottom of the foundation's study. Mississippi ranked the lowest, with a shocking one-third of its children living in poverty and 12 percent of its teens not in school or working. Arizona, Nevada, Louisiana and New Mexico are all there with with Mississippi at the bottom of the list.
Meanwhile, Midwestern states and few Eastern states, topped by Minnesota, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Iowa and Vermont, are the best performers when it comes to child welfare. However, McCarthy says our focus shouldn't be on which state has the lowest child poverty rates. Instead, attention should be shifted to the broader general patterns so we can provide aid where it is needed best.
